ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
And ESPN2 paid a rights fee for this?
In a game that assuredly had television channel changers smoking across the country, ugly Temple beat uglier Virginia Tech 45-41 on Tuesday night in front of 5,724 witnesses at Cassell Coliseum.
Good thing this one was a late-night affair. Maybe some went to bed and missed the latest Atlantic 10 Conference game of the season at Cassell.
Temple's 45 points were the fewest it has scored in a victory since the Owls beat Penn State 43-39 on Jan. 6, 1981. That was before John Chaney showed up at the Philadelphia school.
``It's important that you win ugly games, but I'm tired of winning ugly games,'' said Chaney, whose club won despite making only one of 20 3-point attempts and shooting 17-for-49 from the field (34.7 percent). ``What an ugly, ugly game. I'd much rather lose.''
The victory made Temple's record 15-8 overall and 8-5 in the A-10. Tech, which led by eight points in the first half before hitting one field goal in nearly 13 minutes, is 13-12 and 6-7.
The women and children should have been hidden for this one. Tech didn't shot the ball worse than the visitors, hitting 17 of 50 from the field, but was 5-of-20 from 3-point range.
It marked the second consecutive season the Hokies have scored 41 points in losing to Temple. The two games are Tech's worst offensive output in 30 years.
Tech, despite itself, fought back to tie the score at 36 with 3:11 left on Troy Manns' shot from the lane.
But church was out from that point. Temple got a three-point play out of guard Rasheed Brokenborough, who scored on a follow shot in the lane and was fouled by Tech's David Jackson. Brokenborough's free throw made it 39-36 with 2:30 left.
After Jackson misfired on a 3-point attempt, Temple's Lynard Stewart made it a five-point game with 1:24 left.
Manns, Tech's only offense, then turned over the ball to Brokenborough on the Hokies' next trip down floor. Marc Jackson's two free throws with 40.5 seconds showing on the clock made it 43-36.
Tech cut its deficit to four on Myron Guillory's 3-pointer with 23.7 left, but Huey Futch's two free throws with 22.1 left put Temple out of harm's way. Manns' slash in the lane with 15.5 left provided the final margin and gave him 16 points.
``We didn't rebound well enough to beat these guys,'' said Manns, referring to Temple's 37-26 advantage on the backboards. ``If you don't rebound against these guys they're going to beat you every time.''
Everybody predicted a low-scoring game and the two teams were more than happy to deliver.
Tech, paced by Manns' nine points, took advantage of a 4-for-19 shooting start by Temple to take an 18-10 lead with 6:24 left in the first half.
The Hokies, however, wouldn't score again for the rest of the half. Meanwhile, the Owls woke up long enough to put 10 points on the board and take a 20-18 lead to the locker room.
Besides Manns, nobody did much offensively for the Hokies. Ace Custis was held to six points, tying his season low. The Hokies could get absolutely nothing going inside.
Tech travels today to Washington, D.C., where it faces George Washington (12-10, 6-6) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Smith Center. The Hokies took the first meeting between the two teams Feb.4 in Blacksburg, winning 45-43 on Custis' jumper as time expired.
Tech and GW are battling for second place in the A-10 West Division behind Xavier. The second-place finisher has the luxury of a bye in the first round of the A-10 tournament, March 5-9 at Philadelphia's CoreStates Spectrum.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores<.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. Temple's Marc Jackson loses control ofby CNBthe ball as Virginia Tech's Keefe Matthews and Ace Custis (right)
apply the defensive pressure during the first half Tuesday night in
Blacksburg. color. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL